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Store room/ethnocide accusations
}} Critics of China's treatment of Uyghurs have accused the Chinese government of propagating a policy of sinicization in Xinjiang in the 21st century constituting an ethnocide of Uyghurs. In particular, they highlight the concentration of Uyghurs in state-sponsored re-education camps, suppression of Uyghur religious practices, and testimonials of alleged human rights abuses. Background Xinjiang conflict Various Chinese dynasties have historically exerted control over parts of what is modern-day Xinjiang. The modern region came under Chinese rule as a result of the westward expansion of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, which also saw the annexation of Mongolia and Tibet. After the 1928 assassination of Yang Zengxin, governor of the semi-autonomous Kumul Khanate in east Xinjiang under the Republic of China, Jin Shuren succeeded Yang as governor of the Khanate. On the death of the Kamul Khan Maqsud Shah in 1930, Jin abolished the Khanate entirely and took control of the region as warlord. In 1933, the breakaway First East Turkestan Republic was established in the Kumul Rebellion. In 1934, the First Turkestan Republic was conquered by warlord Sheng Shicai with the aid of the Soviet Union before Sheng reconciled with the Republic of China in 1942. In 1944, the Ili Rebellion led to the Second East Turkestan Republic with dependency on the Soviet Union for trade, arms, and "tacit consent" for its continued existence before being absorbed into the People's Republic of China in 1949. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Chinese government sponsored a mass migration of Han Chinese to the region and introduced a number of policies to suppress the cultural identity and religion of Uyghurs. During this time, several Uyghur separatist organizations with potential support from the Soviet Union emerged, with the East Turkestan People's Party being the largest in 1968. During the 1970s, the Soviets supported the United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan (URFET) to fight the Chinese. In 1997, a police roundup and execution of 30 suspected separatists during Ramadan led to large demonstrations in February 1997 that resulted in the Ghulja incident, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) crackdown that led to at least nine deaths. The Ürümqi bus bombings later that month killed nine people and injured 68 with responsibility acknowledged by Uyghur exile groups. In March 1997, a bus bomb killed two people with responsibility claimed by Uyghur separatists and the Turkey-based Organisation for East Turkistan Freedom. In July 2009, riots broke out in Xinjiang in response to a violent dispute between Uyghur and Han Chinese workers in a factory and result in over one hundred deaths. Following the riots, Uyghur terrorists killed dozens of Han Chinese in coordinated attacks from 2009 to 2016. These included the August 2009 syringe attacks, the 2011 bomb-and-knife attack in Hotan, the March 2014 knife attack in the Kunming railway station, the April 2014 bomb-and-knife attack in the Ürümqi railway station, and the May 2014 car-and-bomb attack in an Ürümqi street market. China blamed the attacks on Uyghur terrorists A Pakistan-based organization Turkistan Islamic Party (formerly the East Turkistan Islamic Movement) claimed responsibility for some of the attacks. Regulations since 2017 New bans and regulations were implemented on April 1, 2017. Abnormally long beards and wearing veils in public were both banned. Not watching state-run television or listening to radio broadcasts, refusing to abide by family planning policies, or refusing to allow one's children to attend state run schools were all prohibited. Giving a child a name that would "exaggerate religious fervor," such as Muhammad, was made illegal. Along with this, many mosques were demolished or destroyed. Re-education efforts began in 2014 and were expanded in 2017. At this time, detainment camps were built for the housing of students of the reeducation programs, most of whom are Uyghurs. The Chinese government did not acknowledge the existence of such until 2018 and called them "vocational education and training centers." This name was changed to "vocational training centers" in 2019. The camps tripled in size from 2018 to 2019 despite the Chinese government claiming that most of the detainees had been released. James Liebold, a professor at the Australian La Trobe University, has written: "In their own words, party officials are “washing brains” and “cleansing hearts” in order to “cure” those bewitched by extremist thoughts. In Xinjiang today, non-Han thoughts and behavior are pathologized as deviant and thus in need of urgent transformation." File:Xinjiang-police-jobs.png|Xinjiang Police Jobs as they grow with Internment Camps |alt=Map of Various internment camps|Xinjiang Map of Internment Camps File:Number of re-education related government procurement bids in Xinjiang.svg|alt=Graph of number of re-education related government procurement bids in Xinjiang|Number of re-education related government procurement bids in Xinjiang Cultural effects Mosques A 2019 CNN report suggested that dozens of mosques have been destroyed in China's crackdown. In 2005, Human Rights Watch reported that "information scattered in official sources suggests that retaliation" against mosques not sponsored by the Chinese State was prevalent, and that the Xinjiang Party Secretary expressed that Uyghurs "should not have to build new places for religious activities." The Chinese government prohibited minors from participating in religious activities in Xinjiang in a manner that, according to Human Rights Watch, "has no basis in Chinese law." According to an analysis from The Guardian, over one-third of mosques and religious sites in China suffered “significant structural damage” between 2016 and 2018, with nearly one-sixth of all mosques and shrines completely razed. This includes the tomb of Imam Asim, a mud tomb in the Taklamakan desert. According to The Guardian, Uyghur Muslims believe that repeated pilgrams to the tomb would fulfill a Muslim's obligation to complete the Hajj. According to The Guardian, a reporter who visited the eastern region of Qumul in 2017 and learned from local officials that over 200 of the 800 mosques in the region were destroyed and over 500 more were scheduled for demolition in 2018. Rachel Harris|last=Harris|first=Rachel|date=2019-04-07|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-12-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Education In 2011, schools in Xinjiang transitioned to "bilingual education". However, the majority of the instruction occurs in Mandarin Chinese, with only a few hours a week devoted to Uyghur literature. Despite this emphasis on "bilingual education", few Han children are taught to speak Uyghur. Uyghur students are also increasingly being sent to residential schools, keeping them separated from their home communities where they are able to speak Uyghur. Detained academics and religious figures The Uyghur Human Rights Project has identified at least 386 Uyghur intellectuals detained and disappeared since early 2017, victims of the massive campaign of ethno-religious repression carried out by the Chinese government in the Uyghur homeland. Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison in 2014. Amnesty International called his sentence unjustified and deplorable. Rahile Dawut, a prominent Uyghur anthropologist who studied and preserved Islamic shrines, traditional songs and folklore has also been imprisoned. According to Radio Free Asia, the Chinese government jailed Uyghur imam Abduheber Ahmet after he took his son to a religious school not sanctioned by the Chinese state. Ahmet had previously been lauded by China as a "five-star" imam, but was sentenced in 2018 to over five years in prison for his action. Marriage incentives According to the outreach coordinator for the U.S.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, Zubayra Shamseden, the Chinese government "wants to erase Uighur culture and identity by remaking its women." According to gender studies expert Leta Hong Fincher, the Chinese government has offered Uyghur couples incentives to have fewer children, and for women to marry outside of their race. Allegations of human right abuses Inside internment camps Torture Human Rights Watch, a New York based nonprofit, has alleged "'rampant abuses,' including torture and unfair trials" of the Uyghurs. Mihrigul Tursun, a young Uyghur mother, said that she was "tortured and subjected to other brutal conditions... "She was drugged, interrogated for days without sleep, and strapped in a chair and jolted with electricity. It was her third time being sent to a camp since 2015. Tursun told reporters that she remembers interrogators telling her: "Being a Uighur is a crime.'" Another past detainee, Kayrat Samarkand, said that "'They made me wear what they called 'iron clothes,' a suit made of metal that weighed over 50 pounds... It forced my arms and legs into an outstretched position. I couldn't move at all, and my back was in terrible pain...They made people wear this thing to break their spirits. After 12 hours, I became so soft, quiet and lawful.'" Alleged sterilizations Zumrat Dwut, a Uyghur woman, claimed that she was forcibly sterilized during her time in a camp before her husband was able to get her out through requests to Pakistani diplomats. While Dwut does not specify how she was sterilized, other women recount having forcefully received contraceptive implants. The Heritage Foundation reported that officials forced Uyghur women to take unknown drugs and drink some kind of white liquid that caused them to lose consciousness and sometimes to stop menstruating. Brainwashing Kayrat Samarkand described his camp routine in an article for NPR: "In addition to living in cramped quarters, he says inmates had to sing songs praising Chinese leader Xi Jinping before being allowed to eat. He says detainees were forced to memorize a list of what he calls '126 lies' about religion: 'Religion is opium, religion is bad, you must believe in no religion, you must believe in the Communist Party,' he remembers. 'Only the Communist Party could lead you the to the bright future.'" Documents leaked by an anonymous Chinese official to the New York Times advised that "Should students ask whether their missing parents had committed a crime, they are to be told no, it is just that their thinking has been infected by unhealthy thoughts. Freedom is only possible when this 'virus' in their thinking is eradicated and they are in good health." This Is Not Dystopian Fiction. This Is China.|last=Board|first=The Editorial|date=2019-11-18|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-04|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} The Heritage Foundation reported that "children whose parents are detained in the camps are often sent to state-run orphanages and brainwashed to forget their ethnic roots. Even if their parents are not detained, Uyghur children need to move to inner China and immerse themselves into Han culture under the Chinese government's 'Xinjiang classrooms' policy." Labor According to Quartz, the Xinjiang region is described as a “cotton gulag” where prison labor is present in all steps of the cotton supply chain..." Tahir Hamut, a Uyghur Muslim, worked in a labor camp during elementary school as a child, and later in a reeducation camp as an adult, performing such tasks as picking cotton, shoveling gravel, and making bricks. "Everyone is forced to do all types of hard labor or face punishment," he said. "Anyone unable to complete their duties will be beaten." Organ harvesting Ethan Gutmann, a journalist and China watcher, concluded that organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience became prevalent when members of the Uyghur ethnic group were targeted in security crackdowns and "strike hard campaigns" during the 1990s. Organ harvesting from Uyghur prisoners dropped off by 1999 with members of the Falun Gong religious group overtaking the Uyghers as a source or organs. Ethan Gutmann, “The Xinjiang Procedure”, The Weekly Standard, 5 December 2011.David Brooks, “The Sidney Awards Part II”, New York Times, 22 December 2011. In the 2010s concerns about organ harvesting from Uyghurs resurfaced. Outside internment camps Forced cohabitation and abortion In 2018, Chinese public servants began mandatory home stays with Uyghur families for assimilation aid. A 37-year-old pregnant woman from the Xinjiang region said that she attempted to give up her Chinese citizenship in order to live in Kazakhstan but was told by the Chinese government that she needed to come back to China in order to complete the process. She received an abortion that she alleged was required to prevent her brother from being detained. Use of biometric and surveillance technology Chinese authorities have been utilizing biometric technology to track individuals in the Uyghur community. According to Yahir Imin, a 38-year-old Uyghur, Chinese authorities in Xinjiang drew blood, scanned his face, recorded his fingerprints, and documented his voice. As stated in the article written by Sui-Lee Wee, a key piece in China's strategy is to collect genetic material from millions of people in the Xinjiang region. The genetic material contributes to an extensive database that can track Uyghur individuals who defy the campaign. China has been exploring the use of facial recognition technology to sort people by ethnicity and how to use DNA to tell if an individual is a Uyghur. According to an assistant professor at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Mark Munsterhjelm, The PRC is creating "technologies used for hunting people." In 2017, security related construction tripled in Xinjiang. According to Charles Rollet, “the projects China include not only security cameras but also video analytics hubs, intelligent monitoring systems, big data centers, police checkpoints, and even drones." The ministry of Public Security has invested billions of dollars into two main government plans: the Skynet project (天网工程) and the Sharp Eyes project (雪亮工程). These two projects combined are reaching to oversee China's population by the year 2020 through video camera facial recognition. According to Morgan Stanely, by 2020, there will be installments of 400 million security cameras. Various Chinese start-ups have been building algorithms to allow the Chinese government to track the Muslim minority group. Start-ups include: SenseTime, CloudWalk, Yitu, Megvii, and Hikvision. Biometric data Officials in Tumxuk have gathered hundreds of blood samples from Uyghur individuals, contributing to the campaign in mass-collecting DNA. Tumxuk was named a "major battlefield for Xinjiang's security work" by the state news media. In January 2018, a forensic DNA lab overseen by the Institute of Forensic Science of China was built in Tumxuk. Documents from within the lab showed that the lab was supported by software created by Thermo Fisher Scientific, a Massachusetts company. This software was used in correspondence to create genetic sequencers, helpful in analyzing DNA. In response, Thermo Fisher declared in February that it would discontinue selling to the Xinjiang region as a result of "fact-specific assessments." GPS tracking on cars Security officials have ordered residents in China's Northwest region to install GPS tracking devices in their vehicles so authorities can track their movements. This measure affects residents in the Xinjiang region and authorities claimed it is necessary to counteract Islamist extremists and separatists. An announcement from officials proclaimed that "there is a severe threat from international terrorism, and cars have been used as a key means of transport for terrorists as well as constantly serving as weapons. It is therefore necessary to monitor and track all vehicles in the prefecture." Installment of China-made Beidou satellite navigation systems will be required beginning February 20, 2020 for all private, secondhand, and government vehicles. International response Middle East Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and many others all signed a UN document defending China's human rights record. A spokersperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized the camps, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later defended China during his visit there. Iraq and Iran have also remained silent while Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey have been accused of deporting Uyghurs to China. The United Arab Emirates has formally defended China's human rights records. Qatar supported China until recently; Qatar was the first Middle Eastern country to withdraw their defense of the Xinjiang Camps. United Nations According to Human Rights Watch News, twenty-two countries issued a combined statement that called upon China to end its mass violations against the Uyghur community in the Xinjiang autonomous region in China's Northwest. 350 Fifth|last2=York|first2=34th Floor New|date=2019-07-10|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en|access-date=2019-12-05|last3=t 1.212.290.4700|first3=NY 10118-3299 USA }} John Fisher, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch stated "the joint statement is important not only for Xinjiang's population, but for people around the world who depend on the UN's leading rights body to hold even the most powerful countries to account." In the joint statement, countries stated their concerns regarding the surveillance, detention, and other ethical violations against the Uyghur and Muslim community in Xinjiang. Countries that have contributed to this statement include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Russia Russia has expressed support of the Uyghur camps on multiple occasions. They were among the 37 nations to formally declare their support of the Xinjiang camps in China in a letter to the UN. New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, visited Beijing after Christchurch mosque shootings and discussed Xinjiang privately with Xi Jinping. Nothing resulted from such conversations and Ardern did pursue this topic further. The lack of concern was backed by the fact that New Zealand exports many products to China, including milk, meat, and wine. United States The United States Congress passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in reaction to the re-education camps. Europe In addition to signing a joint statement regarding ethical violations affecting the Uyghur community in Xinjiang, countries such as Germany and Norway have taken further steps to express their opinions on this issue. Germany has specifically called on China to provide UN human rights access to the camps. In addition, Norway has formed an anti-internment camp awareness group. Southeast Asia Cambodia, Myanmar, and The Philippines signed formal support of China's policies. Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia have all deported Uyghur people on China's request. Central Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Nigeria, Somalia, and many other central African countries have defended China. Official visits to the camps Several official visits have been made the camps at the request of the UN and other countries. A Russian UN Anti-Terrorism investigator found nothing incriminating at the sites. The U.S. has called these visits "highly choreographed" and characterized them as having "propagated false narratives." The UN visit prompted anger from some members of the Uyghur community. DW 14.06.2019|last=Welle (dw.com)|first=Deutsche|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-09}} References Category:Uyghurs Category:Human rights in China Category:Ethnic cleansing in Asia